CRAB AND BROWN SHRIMP GRATIN

Something for the weekend

Serves 2 with a jacket potato and salad

knob of butter, plus extra for greasing

1 onion, grated or finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

Splosh of brandy

1 1/2 tsp plain flour

150ml whole milk

1 tsp English mustard

1/2 wholegrain mustard

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

pinch nutmeg

200g mix brown and white crab meat

small handful of tarragon and/or parsley leaves, chopped

75g brown shrimp

lemon juice to taste

50g breadcrumbs, from a coarse, stale loaf

1 tbsp chopped hazelnuts (optional)

20g parmesan

olive oil for drizzling

Heat the oven to 180C/fan160/gas mark 4. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium-low heat. Fry the onion for 10 minutes, covered, until softened then add the garlic. Pour in the brandy, increase the heat and bubble for a couple of minutes. Stir in the flour and fry for a further 2 minutes. Gradually incorporate the milk, stirring, to thicken. Stir through the mustards, Worcestershire sauce and nutmeg, adding more to taste, if you like. 

Fold the brown and white crab, herbs and half the shrimp into the sauce. Season well with salt, pepper and the lemon juice to taste, then pour into a small ovenproof dish or two ramekins. Mix the breadcrumbs and hazelnuts, if using, with the cheese and the remaining brown shrimp and sprinkle onto the crab. Drizzle generously with olive oil, then slide into the oven. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.

TURKEY PIE

For when we run out of ideas but are still staring at the meat...

TURKEY, HAM AND LEEK PIE
for Boxing Day

ingredients

serves 2-3

25g butter (extra for greasing)
1 large leek, finely sliced into rounds
1 medium sized carrot, roughly chopped
glug white wine
150ml fresh stock (turkey, ham or chicken)
50ml single cream
1tbsp wholegrain mustard
1tbsp Dijon mustard
100g leftover turkey, shredded
100g leftover ham, shredded
small bunch tarragon, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste
flour
100g block puff pastry, rolled thin and cut to fit the oven dish
1tbsp milk to brush pastry

Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F.

Butter a medium-sized oven dish.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the leeks. Fry until soft and add the carrot. Now add the white wine and stock and turn up the heat so the alcohol in the wine burns off. Stir in the cream and the mustards. Allow to simmer for approx. 10 minutes until the liquid has reduced by 1/2.

Now add the shredded meats and warm through for a minute or two. Add the tarragon and season with salt and pepper. Be wary that the stock and meat will add their own saltiness. Pour the pie filling into the dish.

Roll out the pastry on a floured surface to about 3mm thick. Cut a little larger than the top of the oven dish and lightly place it on top of the filling. Lightly and evenly brush the pastry with milk and place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. The pastry should be golden brown and puffy when you take it out.

Serve with blanched and buttered spring greens or leftover sprouts.

Boxing Day done.

PIEFECT

THIS SEASON'S CRUST-HAVE

Get your bloomin' lovely silicon pie birds from cook's haven Ceramica Blue to keep your pastry from sinking ship.

P.S DAY 7. Sourdough starter (Bruce) has been lovingly cared for - half of it discarded each day and fed with new fuel - and is now bubbling happily away. Almost ready for bread making frenzy. Brain a-fizz with first recipes...

GUEST BLOG:Alice Brady

Dance to your Daddy with Alice's dive into the world of fish pie...

In Pursuit of Perfection

It has become apparent to me of late that I am officially an addict. I have seen it occur in so many friends; that first try and taste hooking them in instantly, an inability to break away from it and try new things. My drug of choice: the fish pie. It started with my auntie’s classic version; creamy, rich and filled with perfectly cooked meaty white fish. Since then I have embarked upon my own journey of discovery by attempting to create my version of the perfect fish pie.

This is definitely easier said than done. A friend of mine has been perfecting macaroni and cheese for a good ten years now. With each version come new ideas and combinations, all of which reveal themselves to be delicious concoctions, yet how do you decide on the ultimate? I fear there is no ending to this task. Don’t get me wrong, I am thoroughly enjoying the process; what could be better than the excuse to cook and eat your preferred dish on a regular basis under the disguise of research? What worries me is that I shall go off the dish due to over indulgence before having achieved perfection!

Anyway, enough of my fears, lets talk about fish pie. I am truly at the starting line as this is only my second attempt. The first was a taste if not an aesthetic success; I learnt my lesson about sticking to measurements and using the right equipment, as the “pie” took on the effect of having been pureed due to a too thin roux and the use of a metal roasting tray in place of an oven dish. The taste however, saved me; freshly shelled summer peas, smoked haddock, large succulent prawns, dill and a touch of Dijon mustard. All in all, a job well done.

My second attempt this evening did in fact exceed my own expectations. I gently cooked leeks in a small amount of butter, salt and pepper and layered them on the bottom of the dish (I was lucky enough to be given an earthenware dish for my birthday, perfect for these experimental evenings, from one of the guinea pigs of my first attempt). I poached smoked haddock in milk and white wine and left it to cool whilst I made the roux. Having used the correct measurements I managed to create a lovely think consistency using the milk the fish had been poaching in and adding double cream, a few good dollops of Dijon mustard, a little more white wine and fresh parsley. Once I’d folded the fish and the prawns into the mixture I spooned it on top of the leeks and let it sit for a while. Apparently, leaving it to cool for a time makes it easier to spread the mash onto it (thank you Diana Henry). Of course, as the purist that I am, the only thing this could be topped with was a wonderfully creamy, fluffy mash. The next thirty minutes proved to be torture as we could smell it and hear it bubbling way in the oven. When it finally emerged the potato had taken on a lovely golden colour whilst the sauce had just started to bubble out of the sides. Yummy!!!!!

I am not one to blow my own trumpet so I therefore urge you to try it at home and discover the wonders of a good home made fish pie; perfect for a wet, autumn evening with a few friends and a bottle of wine. If that one doesn’t appeal I have been working on the next concoction involving sweet potato mash. I’ll keep you updated.